Mohali take home three points, Chandigarh draw with Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 21

Mohali gained three points on the basis of first innings lead after their second round match against Muktsar ended in a draw in the Punjab Inter-District Cricket Championship at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium here today.

Muktsar earned one point from the two-day match. Chasing Mohali’s 311-run first innings total, Muktsar resumed their innings on 38/1 and were bowled out for 205. Nikhil Kohli (3/54) and Gurpreet Singh (3/19) were the pick of the bowlers and were supported by Harmanvir Singh (2/36), Jasinder Singh (1/3) and Khushpreet Singh (1/56). 

Gagandeep Singh (9) and Sherbaz Singh opened today’s innings but the former was caught by Ramandeep Singh off Gurpreet Singh after adding eight runs to the second-wicket partnership. Then Mahavir Singh stabled the innings with Sherbaz as the duo raised 67 runs. 

As things were looking good for Muktsar, Jasinder Singh cleaned Sherbaz (33 off 71 balls, including five boundaries) to reduce the side to 105/3. 

Mahavir was joined by Harjot Singh but the partnership only lasted for 22 runs after Mahavir (42 off 63 balls, studded with four boundaries and a six) was claimed by Kohli. Manpreet (25 off 35 balls, including four boundaries) soon departed after being claimed by Harmanvir Singh, leaving Muktsar struggling on 165/6. 

Thereafter, only Amandeep Singh (39 off 49 balls, including six boundaries and a six) showed any fight, while the other batsmen, Kunwardeep (2), Ravinder Singh (0), Navdeep Singh (0) and Dilraj Singh (0), failed to give him support.

Forced to follow on, Muktsar scored 133/3 at the close of day’s play. 

Openers Roopkaran Singh and Gagandeep Singh failed to provide the desired start. The partnership was broken on 35 runs when Gurpreet Singh cleaned Gagandeep (7). However, Roopkaran and Harjot Singh played brilliantly and raised 84 runs for the second wicket. 

Rookaran got to 70 off 103 balls, including 10 boundaries, before getting caught by Jasinder Singh off Vishu Kashyap. 

Kashyap claimed next-in Mahavir Singh before the batsman could open his account. Manpreet Singh (1) and Harjot Singh (50 off 121, including three boundaries) ended the day unbeaten. Kashyap claimed 2/10, while Gurpreet Singh took 1/16 in the second innings for Mohali.      

Rain plays spoilsport in Chandigarh-Amritsar tie 

Chandigarh and Amritsar shared a point each after rain played spoilsport in their match at Gandhi Grounds in Amritsar. 

Chasing Chandigarh’s total of 340 runs, Amritsar were looking good at 127/1 when rain forced play to stop. Amritsar openers Abhishek Sharma and Sumit Sharma raised five runs for the opening wicket before Abhishek was cleaned by Anirudh Kanwar. 

His wicket brought in Abhinav Sharma and he supported Sumit to stable Amritsar’s position. The duo was unbeaten when play was called off. Abhinav posted 66 off 90 balls, including nine boundaries and a six, while Sumit scored 53 off 78 balls, including six boundaries.

On Tuesday, Talvinder Singh (112) helped Chandigarh to post a big total. Chandigarh closed their day at 315 runs and today added 25 runs to their total. Overnight unbeaten Jagmeet Bhullar (84 off 118 balls, including 11 boundaries and a six) added four runs to his score before he was cleaned by Abhishek Sharma, while Arpit Pannu (53 off 85 balls, including two boundaries) and Bhagmender Singh Lather (8) remained unbeaten to close the innings at 340/5.

Patiala-Jalandhar share one point each   

The second and final day of the match between Patiala and Jalandhar was washed out following heavy rain. Both teams shared a point each at Bultron Park, Jalandhar. Patiala had posted 166/5 on Day 1 after a delayed start with the help of Prabjot (27 off 77, including one boundary), Sanvir Singh (67 off 134 balls, including nine boundaries) and Anmolpreet Singh (23).

Hoshiarpur-Ludhiana match washed out 

The match between Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana was also washed out as not even a single ball was bowed following heavy rains. On Tuesday, at Government College in Hoshiarpur, Nikhil Choudhary scored 143 runs to help Ludhiana post a mammoth total of 382 runs. Jaskaran (21 off 33 balls), Jaish Jain (32 off 58 balls), Kashish Paneja (45 off 96 balls, including four boundaries and a six) and Sandeep Singh (38) were the main scorers for the side.